Soil-Water Journal

Soil-Water Journal, 2015, Special Issue, 36-42

The quality of water used for irrigation of agricultural soil

in the basin of Kolubara river
Radmila Pivic *, Zoran Dinic, Dragana Josic, Aleksandra Stanojkovic Sebic
Institute of Soil Science, Belgrade, Serbia

*Corresponding author e-mail : drradmila@pivic.com

Received : 15.12.2013
Accepted: 14.04.1014

Abstract
This paper presents the results of testing the quality of water for irrigation during the growing seasons
2012/2013, in the basin of the Kolubara River, from Beloševac to Obrenovac, in three monitoring cycles
on 16 selected sites belonging to agricultural area under irrigation. The determination of quantity of
trace elements and heavy metals Cr, Ni, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, B, As, Fe, Hg was performed during mentioned
period. The content of trace elements and heavy metals in the samples of water is generally below the
maximum allowable concentration (MAC). In the samples No. 2, 3, 4, in the second series of sampling
was recorded higher content of As above the MAC, which can be explained by drought, low water
levels and potential anthropogenic pollution. In the other two cycles of monitoring are not registered
concentrations of tested elements above MAC. Based on the presented and analyzed results of testing
of hazardous and harmful substances in the water for irrigation of the Kolubara River, it can be concluded
that it can be used for irrigation of crops and soil with restrictions and frequent quality checks during the
summer months and control potential sources of pollution from industry.
Keywords: Harmful substances, irrigation water, soil

INTRODUCTION
The scope of the research conducted in this
paper is the study of quality of irrigation water from
the Kolubara River, complies with the requirements
of FAO, 1954 and U.S. Salinity Laboratory
classification, designed for usability evaluation of
irrigation water (Doneen and Westcot, 1988).
Irrigation means the artificial watering the soil in
order to wet the rhizosphere layer at a time when
the amount of available soil moisture is insufficient
to meet the optimum energy for crops. Irrigation is
a hydro-reclamation measure that aims to improve
the physical properties of the soil by adding water
to achieve optimum moisture during the growing
season and thus achieve optimum yield. It may be
applied during part of the growing season or
during the whole growing season. Irrigation of
cultivated plants on agricultural soil involves the use
of water of appropriate physical, chemical and
biological properties, so it is very important to
examine the quality of water used for its intended
purpose in order to assess the impact on soil and
plants. Intensification of irrigation depends primarily
on the provision to the required amount of water
of adequate quality.
The major proportion of all water quality
degradation worldwide is due to anthropogenic
causes (Faniran et al., 2001; Simeonov et al.,
2003). The accumulation of metals in an aquatic
environment has direct consequences to man and
to the ecosystem (Fatoki et al., 2005).
In less industrialized areas like the Kolubara basin,
pollution from human settlements lacking
appropriate sanitary infrastructure, partially treated or
untreated wastewater, leachates from refuse dumps
and from land-use activities such as agriculture, are
the major pollution sources to the surface water
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolubara). In terms of
provision of water resources, Republic of Serbia is
well-provided. It is estimated that the amount of
surface water per capita during the year is about
2973 m3, while the amount of groundwater is
around 4500 m3 per year. The water resources are
great, but not conveniently distributed in relation to
the needs of agricultural production. In Serbia, in
most locations occurs a deficit of soil moisture during
the growing season, so that almost everywhere it is
necessary to perform a permanent or temporary

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R. Pivic, Z. Dinic. D. Josic, A. Stanojkovic Sebic

irrigation. It is evident that for the study area the composition are present, therefore, the soils
irrigation can be used as an additional measure in formed on them are also very heterogeneous. A
the period from July to the end of October. drift along the Kolubara is of finer structure and it
preserved its characteristic features. Under
The aim of this study is to assess the current
influence of high groundwater and hydrophilic
water quality of the Kolubara River in order to be
vegetation it underwent changes and has evolved
used for irrigation of agricultural soil near the
to hydro genic soil types.
streams and highlight the pollution risk.
Kolubara river basin has a form of an irregular
MATERIAL AND METHODS
quadrilateral, and the distance between the most
Description of the study area western point (19° 30' of east longitude) and the
Kolubara is a river in western Serbia with the most eastern point (20° 35 ' of east longitude),
length of 123 km, and belongs to the rivers with which are in the west-east direction, is 81.2 km.
medium-length. Kolubara River rises near Valjevo, The distance between the most northern point
from rivers Obnica and Jablanica, and flows into (44° 40' of north latitude) and the most southern
the Sava River near Obrenovac. In the Kolubara point (44° 05' of north latitude), which are in the
basin, of a 3639 km2 area, there are rich deposits north-south direction, is 64 km. The highest point
of lignite. Through the valley of Kolubara the in the basin is 1346 m, and the lowest - at an
railway and highway passes. Kolubara River, as altitude of 73 m. Average altitude of the relief in
well as all its tributaries, belongs to the rivers with the Kolubara valley is 276.4 m.
the rain - snow water regime. An important Pseudogley soils, which cover the largest area
characteristic of the water regime presents the in the Kolubara valley of approximately 25%, are
sudden and large fluctuations in water levels and located on flat and gently rolling terrain of usually
flows. In geological terms, along the Kolubara ! ancient alluvial river terraces. The most common
River alluvial deposits of very heterogeneous are at altitudes of 150-350 m. These are very

Figure 1. Location map of Kolubara valley with selected sample sites

37

The quality of water used for irrigation of agricultural soil in the basin of Kolubara river
!
acidic soils, poor in clay, humus and nutrients.
Those soils have unfavorable chemical and water-
air properties and low water permeability. In the
Kolubara valley it is very frequent a group of
brown soils (Distric Cambisols), which are formed
on different geological substrates. Large parts of
the river valleys in the Kolubara basin are covered
with meadow soils (Semigley). Regarding the
nutrient content, they belong to the group of
very rich soil (Tanasijević et al.,1966). The average
annual precipitation in the study area is about
730 mm and the mean annual temperature is
relatively high and vary between 11.4-12.5OC.
Distribution of rainfall during the year is quite
unfavorable.
Sampling and collection of water samples
A total of 48 water samples were collected
from 16 (sixteen) sampling points (Table 1). Water
samples were collected in three cycles of
sampling, in July and October 2012 and April
2013, using 2000 ml plastic bottles. The sampling
bottles for heavy metal determination were pre-
soaked overnight with 10% HCl, then, rinsed with
distilled water and also rinsed using river water
before sample collection. Sampling bottles for the
determination of physicochemical parameters
were cleaned and rinsed using distilled water
only. Preservation of water samples was done by
adding 2 drops of concentrated HNO3 to each
water sample before storage below 4OC until it
was analyzed.
Table 1. Sampling points along the Kolubara river.
Sampling
Sampling p
point
o in t Eas
Easting
t in g
1 7439160
2 7438190
3 7438260
4 7438710
5 7440400
6 7438240
7 7437410
8 7437340
9 7434120
10 7432880
11 7429220
12 7426250
13 7424500
14 7421370
15 7417600
16 7415280
"
"
Soil-Water Journal
Analytical methods
The measured parameters were determined by
the following methods: pH -potentiometric (SRPS
H.Z1.111:1987), electrical conductivity (ECw)-
conductiometric (SRPS EN 27888:1993), total
dissolved solids (TDS)-gravimetric (Greenberg et
al., 1998). The acid-available fraction of heavy
metals and other toxic elements (As, B, Cd, Cr,
Cu, Hg, Fe, Ni, Pb, Zn) was determined using EPA
200.7 methods, as well as an ICAP 6300 ICP
optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES). The
concentration of Hg was determined by a flame
atomic adsorption analyzer SensAA Dual (GBC
Scientific Equipment Pty Ltd, Victoria, Australia).
Data processing methods
The experiment data were presented with mean
of three tests with the presented summarized basic
statistics of the dataset. Analysis of the
interdependence of variables was carried out by
calculating linear Pearson correlation coefficients. It
has been assumed that the regression modeling of
the potential usefulness of the selected variable
(explanatory) to model another variable (explained
variable) determines the absolute value of the high
correlation coefficient between these two variables.
The statistical analysis usually assumes that if the
correlation coefficient is >0.9, a very strong linear
dependence exists; 0.7-0.9 – significant linear
dependence; 0.4-0.7 – moderate linear dependence;
0.2-0.4 – distinct linear dependence, but low; <0.2
– no linear dependence (Goon et al., 1986).
Northing
Northing
4945800
4939310
4936220
4934390
4921220
4918480
4917660
4916170
4913000
4912710
4911110
4907780
4905570
4905180
4904100
4903790
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R. Pivic, Z. Dinic. D. Josic, A. Stanojkovic Sebic

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION well to a class for irrigation water. By classification of

U.S. Salinity Laboratory, all of the samples belong to
The seasonal and annual averages of
the C2 S1 class of water, where ECw values range
physicochemical characteristics are given in Table 2.
from 0.250 to 0.750 dSm-1 and, as such, it can be
The pH is an important factor that determines the
used for irrigation of the plants with medium
suitability of water for a variety of purposes, inter alia,
tolerance to salt.
for irrigation. The tested samples showed pH values
from neutral to slightly alkaline during the second Total dissolved solids (TDS) are an important
cycle of sampling a growing trend (Figure 2). This characteristic for determination of the quality of water
may be a drought which influences on an increased for irrigation because it expresses the total
!
flow of wastewater from agriculture and households, concentration of soluble salts in water. Dissolved solids
and as well on intensive microbial activity. in water include all inorganic salts, silica and soluble

Table 2. Average values of the water quality parameters of irrigation water, along with the standard limits by Republic of
Serbia and irrigation water by US and FAO.

Standard limits
Official Gazette
Parameters Mean±STDEV Ayers and U.S irrigation of Republic
Westcot, 1994 water quality Serbia,
1994/2012
pH 8.19±0.13 6.5-8.4
ECw 25˚C (dSm-1) 0.43±0.09 0.7-2 <0.7
TDS (mg.l-1) 346.15±122.26 500-1500 <450
As (mg.l-1) 0.008±0.015 0.05
B (mg.l-1) 0.109±0.085 1.0
Cd (mg.l-1) bdl 0.01 0.01
Cr (mg.l-1) 0.001±0.001 0.1 0.5
Cu (mg.l-1) 0.001±0.001 0.2 0.1
Fe (mg.l-1) 0.072±0.045 5.0 5.0
Ni (mg.l-1) 0.003±0.001 0.2 0.1
Pb (mg.l-1) 0.003±0.002 5.0 0.1
Zn (mg.l-1) 0.022±0.041 2.0 1.0
Hg (mg.l-1) bdl 0.001

Conductivity is a measure of the ability of an
aqueous solution to carry an electric current.
Increasing levels of conductivity and cat ions are the
products of decomposition and mineralization of
organic materials (Begum and Harikrishnarai, 2008).
The aqueous salt solution and dissociated are broken
down into positive and negative ions. Electrical
conductivity in natural waters is generally with values
less than usual. Measurement of the conductivity is
performed at a specific temperature and it
corresponds to the presence of dissolved salts. These
are most commonly sodium chloride, and may be
present, and sodium sulphate, calcium chloride,
calcium sulfate, magnesium chloride, etc. Salts
dissolved in the water influence on increase of the
water conductivity values. In all three cycles of
analyzing the water from Kolubara River (Figure 3),
according to FAO classification, the samples belong
to a class of water for drinking and irrigation, and as
organic matter (Atekwana et al., 2004; Ahipathy and
Puttaiah, 2006). Pure water must be free from most
suspended particles, which are responsible for
turbidity. TDS was the highest in summer due to
evaporation and reduced intake, which contributed
to an increase in concentration, and had the
minimum value in the rainy season, due to the
increased entry of rain and a corresponding reduction
in concentration at all locations (Figure 4). The
contents of trace elements and heavy metals in the
samples of water are generally below the maximum
allowable concentration (MAC). In sampling point No.
2,3,4 in the second series of sampling it was recorded
an increased arsenic content above the MAC (0.0595
mg l-1; 0.0634 mg l-1; 0.0641 mg l-1) (Figure 5). As it
is in the zone below the rural village, it is possible that
this increase was caused by increased anthropogenic
activity, since in other series an increased content of
this element was not registered. Correlation

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The quality of water used for irrigation of agricultural soil in the basin of Kolubara river

coefficients between various physicochemical significant negative correlation to all studied

parameters are shown in Table 3. It shows the parameters except to the concentration of Cr, Fe and
correlation between the samples and the Zn. ECw values were positively correlated to all
characteristics of the water where the pH value has a studied parameters except to the concentration of Cr,
significant negative correlation to all studied Cu and Fe. TDS values show a positive correlation to
parameters except to the concentration of Cr, Fe and the concentration of As, B, Cd, Cu, Ni and Pb, and a
Zn. ECw values were positively correlated to all negative to the concentration of Cr, Fe and Zn in the
studied parameters except to the concentration of Cr, samples of water.
Cu and Fe. TDS values show a positive correlation to
The obtained results also implies on significant linear
the concentration of As, B, Cd, Cu, Ni and Pb, and a
dependence for ECw-B in the studied water samples,
negative to the concentration of Cr, Fe and Zn in the
moderate linear dependence for ECw-TDS; ECw-Pb;
samples of water.
TDS-As; TDS-B; TDS-Pb; As-B; As-Pb; B-Cd; BNi-Cr; B-Pb
Correlation coefficients between various and distinct linear dependence for ECw-As; ECw-Cd;
physicochemical parameters are shown in Table 3. It ECw-Ni; TDS-Cd; TDS-Ni; As-Cd; As-Ni; Cd-Pb; Cr-Fe;
shows the correlation between the samples and the Cr-Ni; Fe-Zn; Ni-Pb; Pb-Zn while for the rest of
characteristics of the water where the pH value has a observed parameters there is no linear dependence.
Sampling sites
Samling sites
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
7,5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
0,200
7,6
0,250

7,7
0,300
7,8
0,350
7,9
0,400
ECw ( dSm-1 )

8
0,450
pH

8,1
0,500

8,2
0,550
8,3
0,600
sampling I July 2012.
8,4 sampling I July 2012. 0,650 sampling II October 2012.
8,5 sampling II October 2012.
sampling III April 2013.
0,700
sampling III April 2013.

Figure 2. pH value of the tested water samples in batches Figure 3. ECw value of the tested water samples in
of monitoring batches of monitoring
!
Sampling sites
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Sampling sites
140
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
0

240
Total dissolved solids ( mg l )
. -1

340

440
As (mg . l-1 )

540
"
" 640 sampling I July 2012.
sampling II October 2012.
sampling I July 2012
sampling III April 2013.
sampling II October 2012
sampling III April 2013

Figure 4. TDS value of the tested water samples in batches Figure 5. As concentration of the tested water samples in
of monitoring batches of monitoring

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R. Pivic, Z. Dinic. D. Josic, A. Stanojkovic Sebic

Table 3. Correlation coefficients between water characteristics in Kolubara river (n=48)

pH ECw TDS As B Cd Cr Cu Fe Ni Pb Zn
- - - - - - - -
pH 1 0.069 0.031 0.235
0.058 0.427 0.646 0.475 0.043 0.224 0.506 0.177
- - -
ECw 1 0.465 0.221 0.725 0.399 0.261 0.616 0.194
0.437 0.144 0.415
- - -
TDS 1 0.656 0.677 0.352 0.071 0.252 0.594
0.329 0.418 0.068
- - - -
As 1 0.510 0.373 0.291 0.453
0.159 0.014 0.183 0.128
- - -
B 1 0.660 0.050 0.608 0.486
0.237 0.453 0.072
- - - -
Cd 1 0.348 0.019
0.162 0.314 0.510 0.125
- - -
Cr 1 0.264 0.255
0.173 0.133 0.002
- - - -
Cu 1
0.239 0.103 0.116 0.152
-
Fe 1 0.065 0.303
0.124
-
Ni 1 0.246
0.808
Pb 1 0.254
Zn 1

CONCLUSION
Results from water samples showed that the
concentration of heavy metals in the water of the river
Kolubara in most of the samples analyzed is within the
MAC values. Variations of the content of heavy metal
concentrations in the water are the result of a wide
range of human activities (primarily agriculture) in the
" Paper 1, Rev.1.
study area and water levels throughout the year.
Based on the obtained and analyzed results of
testing the quality of water for irrigation from the
Kolubara River, it can be concluded that it can be
used for irrigation of crops and soil with frequent
quality checks during the summer months.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This research was financially supported by the
Ministry of Education and Science, Republic of
Serbia [Project TR 37006]
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The quality of water used for irrigation of agricultural soil in the basin of Kolubara river

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